'''Gratitude''', thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive [[emotion]] or [[attitude]] in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The [[experience]] of gratitude has historically been a [[focus]] of several world [[religions]],[1] and has been considered extensively by moral [[philosophers]] such as Adam Smith.[2] The [[system]]atic study of gratitude within [[psychology]] only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has [[tradition]]ally been focused more on understanding distress rather than understanding positive emotions. However, with the advent of the [[positive psychology movement]], [3] gratitude has become a [[mainstream]] focus of psychological [[research]]. [4] The study of gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual [[difference]]s in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.[5][6] | '''Gratitude''', thankfulness, or appreciation is a positive [[emotion]] or [[attitude]] in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive. The [[experience]] of gratitude has historically been a [[focus]] of several world [[religions]],[1] and has been considered extensively by moral [[philosophers]] such as Adam Smith.[2] The [[system]]atic study of gratitude within [[psychology]] only began around the year 2000, possibly because psychology has [[tradition]]ally been focused more on understanding distress rather than understanding positive emotions. However, with the advent of the [[positive psychology movement]], [3] gratitude has become a [[mainstream]] focus of psychological [[research]]. [4] The study of gratitude within psychology has focused on the understanding of the short term experience of the emotion of gratitude (state gratitude), individual [[difference]]s in how frequently people feel gratitude (trait gratitude), and the relationship between these two aspects.[5][6] |